Refrigerating apparatus



July 5,1938. c. THOMAS' 22,501

REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Filed July 28, 1934 IN VEN TOR.

M a m /e IATTORN EY.

, Patented July 5, 1938 tide-receiving and supporting position,

UNITED- STATES PATENT OFFICE nsrmenmrme APPARATUS Charles 0. Thomas, Detroit, Micln, assignor, by

mesne assignments, to Nash-Kelvinator Corporation,

Maryland Detroit, Mich,

a corporation of Application July 28, 1934, Serial No. 731,319

2 Claims.

It is frequently necessary when placing arti- '7 cles into or removingthem from a refrigerator, to rearrange the articles that are in the refrigerator and in doing so to temporarily remove the same. Obviously, it then becomes necessary to place the temporarily removed articles at some other location, such for example as on a table, which may be inconveniently located at some distance from the refrigerator. This oftentimes is a great inconvenience as it consumes time and causes the housewife or other person to take many unnecessary steps.

' An object of my invention is to provide a refrigerator with an auxiliary or rearranging shelf or tray which is conveniently mounted such as on the refrigerator door, in such manner that it may be easily disposed in a readily accessible arand which, when not in use, may be disposed in such position as not to'occupy useful space within the refrigerator. Another object of my invention is to provide a refrigerator door having an auxiliary shelf or tray of the character referred to thereon, with a recessed portion for receiving such shelf or tray when the same is disposed in an inoperative position, whereby the shelf or tray will not occupy useful space-within the refrigerator when the door is closed.

The present invention, however, both as to'its construction and use, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will best be.

invention mounted thereon, the shelf being shown in its operative article-supporting position;

Figure 2 is an enlarged side elevation of the refrigerator door shown in Figure 1, the shelf being disposed in its article-supporting position and also being shown in dotted outline in a par- 'tially lowered position;

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2 but with the shelf in its raised inoperative position;

Figure 2.

out the several. views, there is shown in Figure 1, for the purpose of illustration, a refrigerator cabinet in having a hinged door II. The auxiliary or rearranging shelf of the present invention, as here shown in Figures 2 to 5, is in the form of a sheet metal tray l2 having flanges l3 along its ends and front side, each flange l3 flange H; The shelf, however; may be of any other suitable construction such as for example of grille-like construction of the-type employed in the refrigerator shelves l5 shown in Figure 1.

The shelf or tray I2 is hinged to the inner face of the door H so that it may be swung from a vertical inoperative position adjacent the inner door face, as indicated in Figure 3, to a horizontal article-supporting position, as indicated in In order, however, that the tray [2 will not 00- cupy useful space within the refrigerator, it is preferred to offset the upper portion of the inner face of the door, as shown in Figure 2, to provide a tray receiving recess l8 and a horizontal ledge I I. The hinges l8 which connect the tray 12 with the door ll may be secured to this ledge I! in such manner that when the tray i 2 is swung upwardly to its vertical inoperative posi-' tion, as shown in Figure 3,. the bottom thereof will lie substantially in the plane of the lower portion of the'inner door face. By forming the inner door face with the recess i6 and hinging the. tray 12 in the mannerdescribed, it is obvious that the tray, when it is in its inoperative vertical position, will not occupy any of the useful space within the refrigerator after the door is closed. v

Any suitable means, such for example as a chain, extensible links, or an arm arranged to disappear between the door panels, may be employed for supporting the tray I! in its horizontal position. One means for doing this is shown terminating in an outwardly extending lip or for illustration in Figures 2 to 5, as comprising a pair of pivoted links 30, one of which is pivoted to the end flange l3 of the tray and the other of which is pivoted to a hinge bracket l9 secured to the inner door face above the hinges it. The links 30, when the tray 52 is swung upwardly,

, swing about their pivotal axes as shown in dotted outline in Figure 2, and permit free swinging movement of the tray, but act, when the tray is lowered, to provide an eficient supporting structure for the tray.

Any suitable means, such as for example the spring metal latch 25 shown in figures 1 to 5, may be utilized for retaining the tray in its verticel position. The latch as may be disposed ashere shown in a depression 3i formed upper edge portion of the door i l. e

the

When it desiredto utilise the tray ii for supporting ai ticles while the articles that may be on the ShQIVGSsI' are being rearranged or while other articles are being removed from or placed on the shelves I, it is merely necessary I may evenzhe'of' such size as to support a serving tray on which it may be desired to place a memher of articles. 2

it will be noted from the drawing and foregoing description that the device of the present invention provides a new and useful means for use withrefrigerators which is conveniently disposed for receiving articles whileiother articles are be- 'ing placed in or removed from the refrigerator or are being rearranged therein. It will be further noted hat the shelf ortrayJs readily accessible an arranged to be disposed in such manner that it will not occupy useful space in V the refrigerator when the door is closed. .The

i auxiliary shelf serves a very useful purpose in that it conserves the time of and eliminates unnecessary moven ients of the housewife or other person, 5

Aside from the specific embodiments of the invention herein shown and described, it will be understood that numerous details of the construction may be altered; or'omitted without de-' parting from the spirit and scope of the invention as and claimed. and that I do not desire ts limit'the invention to the exact con structions herein set forth.

What 'I claim is:

1. The combination in' a refrigerator of a door;

a recess in the inner face of said door, a tray shaped shelf, a'removable transfer tray supported by said shelf and confined within the same. hinge means connecting said shelf with said door at the lower edge of said recess for swinging movement from a horizontal to a vertical position to position said shelf and tray within said recess, resilient latch means carried by the ;door for securing said shelf in a vertical folded position adjacent-the door, and extensible link supports connected with said door and said shelf for hold= ing the latter in a horisontal position. e 2. The combination in a refrigeratorof a doc movable transfer tray,4; shelf having a depres-' sion therein for receiving and supporting said tray in substantially confined relation, means for hinging said tray to said door at 'a horizontal .edge of said recess whereby said shelf and tray may be moved from a horizontal position to a vertical position within said recess, means for supporting said shelf/in its horizontal position, and means for holding said shelf in its vertical position. 7 CHARLES c. mouse;

having a recess in the inner face thereof, a re- 

